The Group of Eight

Group of Eight 2014

International collaboration

What is the Group of Eight?

A coalition of Australia’s leading research-intensive universities

• Strong research across a comprehensive range of fields

• Education informed by research

• Comprehensive in higher education across generalist and professional fields

• Leadership in public discussion of complex issues

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Group of Eight universities

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Characteristics of Go8 universities

Go8 universities:

• Attract the highest levels of research funding: competitive grants, industry funding

• Top-ranked Australian universities in international rankings

• Enrol more than half of research higher degree students

• Attract the highest performing Australian school students

• Lowest student-staff ratios of all Australian universities

• Strong outcomes for international students

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Research income

By university, 1995 to 2012

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

Total Research Income from 1995 to 2012

Increase from 1995 to 2012 1995

$ million

Source: Finance 2012 - Financial Reports of Higher Education Providers (Department of Education); 2012 Research Income and Publications Data by Sub Category (Department of Education); 2012 Research Block Grant Allocations (Department of Education); Higher Education Research Data

Collection (1992-2006) (Universities Australia )

Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA)

A government assessment of research quality

• Run by the main research funding body – the Australian Research Council (ARC)

• Assesses research quality by field of research within Australia's universities using review by committees of experienced,

internationally-recognised experts

• Rates research on a five-point scale by university by field of research:

– A rating of 3 indicates research is equal to world standard

– A rating of 4 indicates research is above world standard

– A rating of 5 indicates research is well above world standard

• ERA has assessed 91 per cent of research undertaken at Go8 universities as world standard or above

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ERA results, 2012

Ratings of 4 and 5 by university by field

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Source: ARC, Excellence for Research in Australia 2012

Go8 universities in world rankings

Consistently the best performing Australian universities

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ARWU 2013 THES 2013 QS 2013 Leiden 2013

Australian National University 66 48 27 127

Monash University 101-150 91 69= 178

University of Adelaide 201-300 201-225 104= 253

University of Melbourne 54 34 31 100

University of Queensland 85 63 43 118

University of Sydney 97 72 38 240

University of Western Australia 91 168 84 286

UNSW Australia 101-150 114 52 215

ARWU rankings by field

Consistent, with strengths in Life Sciences

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Natural Sciences and

Maths Engineering Life Sciences Medical Social SciencesAustralian National University 37 101-150 51-75 51-75Monash University 151-200 51-75 101-150 101-150 101-150

University of Adelaide 101-150 151-200University of Melbourne 101-150 51-75 38 36 76-100University of Queensland 151-200 76-100 40 51-75 101-150University of Sydney 76-100 51-75 76-100 101-150 101-150

University of Western Australia 101-150 26 51-75UNSW Australia 151-200 51-75 101-150 101-150 101-150

What does the Go8 do?

Three main activities/functions as a Group:

• Influencing national policy discussion on higher education and research

• Capacity building: helping staff at different levels within Go8 universities to work together across the Group (e.g. through committees,

projects)

• International collaboration: especially at a group-to-group level (with comparable associations of research universities in various

countries)

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The Go8’s international collaborations

International collaborations

Main activities:

• Research collaboration

• Exchange programs for young researchers

• Student exchange, scholarships

• Policy and advocacy

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Research collaboration

Research is increasingly collaborative, and international

• Research is now a global game (a cliché, but true and significant)

• International collaboration is basic and essential to research activity

• International collaborative effort to address major problems

• Collaboration is arranged at different levels:

– Individual to individual

– University to university

– Group to group

– Country to country

• The Go8 actively supports collaborations of all of these types

• As a group, the Go8 has entered several formal agreements

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Formal Go8 agreements

Focus on researcher exchange

Group of Eight agreements

• Go8-Germany Joint Research Cooperation Scheme

• Go8 agreement with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)

• Go8 European Research Fellowships

• Go8-China Young Researchers Exchange Program (YREP)

• Go8-China 9 PhD Forum

• Food Security Workshop – Go8 and Latin American universities

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Go8-Germany Joint Research

Cooperation Scheme

Go8 and DAADObjectives

• Supports research exchange between Go8 universities and German universities

• Supports cooperation between Australian and German research groups

• Open to academic researchers and PhD students

• Emphasis on developing early career researchers

Assessment criteria

• Quality of the research project

• Record of participating researchers, and level of involvement by early career researchers

• Potential of the project to result in outcomes of mutual benefit to Australia and Germany

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Go8 and EMBL

• Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), 2010

• Funds joint PhDs in molecular biology (undertaken at a Go8 university and the EMBL)

• Jointly funded by Australian Government and EMBL

• Australia became the first ‘Associate Member’ of EMBL in 2007: funded by the Australian Government, CSIRO (Federal Government

research agency) and four Go8 universities

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European Research Fellowships

Fellowships for early career researchers from Europe

• Go8 offers eight fellowships each year

• Fellows can work at Go8 universities for up to six months

• Open to early career researchers from Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria,

Russia and Croatia

• The scheme is designed to help early career researchers make vital international contacts

• Design envisages that Fellows will continue to collaborate with Australian research partners once they return home

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The Young Researchers Exchange Program

Go8 and China

Objectives

• To build long term science and research collaboration between Australia and China by bringing together future research leaders

• To expose early and mid-career researchers in Australia and China to the other country: cultures, research practices and systems

• To develop ‘science ambassadors’

How it works

• Short annual exchange program: participants visit one or more universities in the other country over a two week period

• Jointly funded by the Australian and Chinese governments: administered at the Australian end by the Go8

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Go8-C9 PhD Forum

Go8 and the China 9

Annual event: alternates between China and Australia

• Joint forum of PhD students – addresses a particular problem or theme

– Shanghai 2013: sustainable health futures

– Sydney, November 2014: population ageing

• Interdisciplinary; problem-oriented

• Participating universities select their top PhD students to go to the forum

• Several days of presentations by participating students; discussion

Objective

• To strengthen links between Go8 and C9 universities and foster research collaboration

• To establish professional links between future research leaders

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Go8 and Latin America

Go8 and Latin America

Why is collaboration important?

• Go8 is excited by Latin America’s dynamism and growth, in all spheres including the academic

• Latin America and Australia have some similar concerns and research interests:

– Mining

– Tropical and sub-tropical agriculture

– Environmental management

• Common interests and perspectives as ‘Great Southern Lands’

What is the Go8 doing?

• Formal agreements with government agencies in different countries

• Institutional links, including formal agreements

• Go8 office in Sao Paulo (opened 2012)

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Collaboration between Brazilian and Australian universities

Web of Science articles, 1999-2012

• Co-authored by Brazilian and Australian authors

• More than half of these collaborations involve Go8

universities

• Tenfold increase

• Over the same period, US-Australian collaborations trebled;

total Australian international collaborations doubled

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Source: InCites, Web of Science

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

Collaboration with Brazil in scientific research

Across a broad range of fields of fundamental science

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Source: InCites, Web of Science

0

50

100

150

200

250

Brazil: CAPES and CNPQ

Part of ‘Science without Borders’Agreements between CAPES/CNPQ and Go8 are designed to:

• enable more Brazilian students to study at Australia universities

• develop research and academic exchange (PhD and post-doctoral level)

• promote academic collaboration through conferences, workshops etc

• open new avenues for joint research projects

• promote exchange of scholars in all disciplines

• explore opportunities for student mobility between Brazil and Australia

• deepen cooperation among researchers and academics at Brazilian universities and Go8 universities

• work for the mutual benefit of scholarly communities in both countries

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Agreement with Chilean universities

MoU: Go8 and CRUCH

MoU with Consejo de Rectores de las Universidades Chilenas

• Sharing expertise in:

– Research commercialisation

– Interdisciplinary research

– Technology transfer

• Facilitating collaboration between member universities

• Working together to improve qualifications recognition

• Presenting each other as the leading group of research universities in our respective countries

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Agreement with the Chilean Government

Complements Chile-Australia free trade agreement

The agreement aims to help Chile develop human capital

• Provides education to students who have received Chilean Government scholarships (at different levels of study: Masters, PhD,

English language training)

• Priority fields include: Mining, Offshore Technologies, Agriculture and Food Industry, Aquaculture and Fishing, Tourism and Hospitality,

Biotechnology, Information and Communication Technologies, Energy, Environmental Issues, Health, Education, Housing and Public

Security.

• Also supports exchanges and internships for academics and researchers

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Food Security Workshop

Go8 and Latin American universities

Objectives

• To discuss and further research collaboration and other partnerships to strengthen food security

• Food security will be a major issue over the next 50 years: population increase, climate change

• Similarities between Australia and Latin American countries: similar agricultural systems in tropical and sub-tropical environments

The event

• At the University of Queensland, Brisbane in 2015

• Interdisciplinary, due to the very broad and many-sided topic

• Contact the Go8 if you’re interested in attending

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International collaboration in policy

and advocacy

Go8 and other groups of

research universities

International collaboration: policy and advocacy

Group-to-group work

Why is this important?

Research universities need to restate their distinctive attributes and their particular contribution to society

Challenges:

• Massification

• Globalisation

• Budget pressures

• Instrumentalist agendas

To respond to these challenges, groups of research-intensive universities have emerged in many countries around the world

These groups need to work together

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The Hefei Statement

A statement on the distinctive characteristics, roles and contribution of research universities

1. Pursuit of excellence

2. Breadth and depth of research: international reputation

3. Commitment to research training

4. Teaching across undergraduate and postgraduate levels: broadly educated graduates

5. Highest standards of research integrity

6. Responsible exercise of academic freedom: open inquiry challenging current understanding

7. Welcome different views and perspectives: discussion

8. Autonomy

9. Support local and national communities; contribute to international well-being

10. Open and transparent governance

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The Hefei Statement

Signatories

Original signatories, Hefei, China, October 2013

• The China 9

• The Group of Eight

• The League of European Research Universities (LERU)

• The Association of American Universities (AAU)

Further signatories

• The Hong Kong 3

• The Russell Group (UK)

• The U-15 (Canada)

• The U-11 (Japan)

• The Association of East Asian Research Universities (AEARU)

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Go8 and China 9

The Hefei Statement was signed at the annual meeting of the China 9 Universities

• Longstanding and productive collaboration between Go8 and C9

• C9 invited the Go8 into China to collaborate: the first foreign group of universities to be so invited

• Many collaborative programs:

– Researcher exchange (mentioned previously)

– Undergraduate student exchange

– Executive shadowing program (senior university staff)

• Reciprocal visits and joint meetings

The Hefei Statement is an opportunity to establish closer collaboration between groups of research-

intensive universities around the world

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Contact usIf you have any queries, or need more information, please contact

The Group of Eight secretariat at +61 (0)2 6239 5488.

www.go8.edu.au